By Anthony Parelli
One play into the game, Bayside found itself down a touchdown after an 89-yard scoring run by Franklin D. Roosevelt running back Tristen Thomas. The big play proved to be the start of a forgettable afternoon for the Commodores.
Bayside saw its hopes for an undefeated season come to an end with a 36-14 loss to the Cougars Saturday at the Midwood Athletic Complex in PSAL Bowl Conference football.
“We need to get better at everything,” Bayside Coach Jason Levitt said after his team’s performance. “This is the worst game we’ve played in the seven years I’ve been here.”
The Bayside defense was unable to contain the running game of Franklin Roosevelt all afternoon as Thomas and quarterback Kaseem Morrison burned them for runs of 89, 59, 25 and 41 yards and scored two touchdowns each.
As the first half came to an end, Kevin Mombelly intercepted an FDR pass attempt and gave his team possession at their own 23-yard line with just nine seconds remaining. Bayside (5-1), content to let the clock run out, handed the ball to tailback Trevon Moe, who in turn broke eight tackles en route to a 77-yard touchdown run.
The Commodores converted the two-point conversion to cut the Cougars’ (5-1) lead to 14-8 at the break. Bayside was unable to carry that momentum into the second half as it went three and out on their first possession.
“Kids made individual plays,” Levitt said. “They [FDR] were good. We have a motto of ‘Do our job’ and we didn’t do our job, guys are trying to do too much and that’s the problem.”
Mombelly added Bayside’s second score on an 8-yard run after powering his way down the field in place of starting quarterback Henry McCoy, who was benched following a fourth-quarter fumble FDR returned for a touchdown.
The defeat spoiled a chance for Bayside’s game against defending city champion South Shore next week to be a battle of unbeaten teams. Despite losing their first game of the year, the season is far from over for the Commodores. Levitt hopes the team will gain humility and learn from the loss.
“This was a game with playoff implications, but it wasn’t a playoff game,” Levitt said. “We still have tomorrow.”
